"Founded in 2004, Sebra was created with the ambition of designing beautiful, functional, and durable products for children and their families. Since then, Sebra has grown into an international brand rooted in the Danish design tradition, with a strong focus on quality, safety, and thoughtfully designed solutions for families with children.

Behind Sebra is designer Mia Dela, who founded the company with the vision of creating products that combine aesthetics, functionality, and durability – products made to be passed down from child to child. Today, Mia serves as Chairwoman of the Board at Sebra and continues to influence the company’s design direction and values, while the day-to-day management is handled by the company’s CEO."

To mark Sebra’s 20th anniversary in 2024, we asked Mia Dela five questions about Sebra’s journey, design, and future. Her reflections continue to be an important part of Sebra’s DNA today.

I graduated with a master’s degree in design from Design School Kolding and in 2002, not long after I graduated, I had my first child.

I realized that there weren’t many nice children’s products on the market, so I ended up designing and sewing quite a lot myself.

When I returned from maternity leave, I started working in the fashion industry, and I thought that if I was going to do that, I might as well start my own business and try to make some of the products that I hadn’t been able to find for myself. This is how Sebra started in 2004.

Bed linen, cloth nappies, blankets and some toys. Then, some small furniture, and pretty soon, our iconic Sebra bed was added.

For the first few years, I filled all the positions at Sebra myself. I designed, packed goods in the warehouse, and emptied containers. I took care of the paperwork, talked to customers, and drove to dealerships. I hired my first employee in 2006, so you could say I started from scratch.

We want to be a combination of classic and nostalgic.

Of course, we also look at the trends that come and go – there's no point in doing pastels if everything else in interior design is stronger colours. So we stay up-to-date in terms of colourways, but our overall aesthetic is classic and timeless.

We don’t insert batteries and make things flash and honk and make noise. We’re kind of low-key in the Nordic way.

I’m a big believer in karma. Whatever you give out, you get back. And this applies both internally for our staff, but also in relation to our suppliers, our customers and the relationships we have in general.

We spend a lot of time together at work and it's sad if we're not happy there. I believe that if we have a good working environment and have a bit of fun in our everyday life, everything goes much easier.

From year one, I’ve bought individual Christmas gifts for everyone. Doing something personal means a lot to me. Do something that makes people happy and makes them feel valued.

We also have flexible working hours so staff can optimise their work-life balance. It’s important that Sebra is a sustainable and humane workplace.

There's nothing better than having plenty of time on your birthday. Time to celebrate and do what you want to do.

That's why birthdays at Sebra trigger an extra day off for the birthday boy or girl, and when they return, there is a decorated desk, a ‘Happy Birthday’ sing-along in the cafeteria and a personalised gift to make the birthday special.

It’s extremely important to me that Sebra prioritises having as small a carbon footprint as possible and that we control our supply chains.

We have been working with sustainability in our packaging for a number of years now and have reduced plastic wherever possible. We use paper and cardboard in qualities that are easier to recycle. We’ve tried reducing the use of glue and adhesives to be even more sustainable in our product packaging.

10 years ago, Sebra became GOTS certified. And today our textiles carry the GOTS, GRS and OCS certifications. Some of the furniture is both FSC™ certified and EU Flower certified. It's been a long process. And we’re not done yet. I don't think you're ever done. We’re working towards being able to document the carbon footprint of all our furniture. But in terms of certification, we've come a long way.

EU-Ecolabel Sebra’s license no.: DK/049/014.
Sebra’s license no.: FSC™ C160110. 
GOTS Sebra’s license no.: CU10141229.
OCS Sebra licence number: CU1014229.

I don't believe in 20-year plans, 10-year plans, or 5-year plans, either. Not that I don't plan, but I think you miss out on a lot if you think you're going to choose one direction and then drive that way for the next five years without looking sideways or stopping once in a while. Sometimes, you have to just let things happen.

As long as I still enjoy walking through the door and as long as I work with great people. As long as my everyday life is fun. As long as there are more days that I think are inspiring, Sebra will keep going. And just because we've been here for 20 years doesn't mean I've been doing the same thing for 20 years. I change, the company changes, and the world around us constantly changes.